Thursday, March 27, 2008

Somethings Missing: Sea-Monkeys

Sea Monkeys is the brand name for a hybrid-species of brine shrimp (a type of fairy shrimp which are not true shrimp). The term "Sea-Monkeys" is a trademark used to sell them as a novelty pet in comic books, etc., however brine shrimp originate in salt lakes and evaporation flats – not the sea.

The main characteristic that allowed un-hatched "Sea-Monkeys" to be cheaply packaged, shipped, and handled is that in easily prepared environments, they enter cryptobiosis, a natural state of suspended animation. When released into their aquarium they leave this state and smash through their inner shell walls. Sea-Monkeys can reproduce both sexually (requiring a male and a female) and asexually. When the eggs are produced, there are usually fewer males than females, probably because they are not essential for reproduction. Females stop reproducing with the males when the males are too few.

They were first bred at the New York Ocean Science Laboratories for their larger size and longer lifespan, making them more suitable as pets than the original breed of brine shrimp. Advertisements for Sea-Monkeys were widespread in comics in the 1970s, but the ads featuring drawings of smiling humanoid creatures, bore little resemblance to actual brine shrimp, so a disclaimer stated that, "Caricatures shown not intended to depict Artemia." Sea-Monkeys have a biological life cycle of one year, but thanks to their ability to enter cryptobiosis, a Sea-Monkey colony could sustain itself for two years.

A television program, The Amazing Live Sea Monkeys, based on the comic book advertisements of the 1970s, was produced in 1992.

1 comment:

Shit, is there any kid on the planet who hasn't been scammed by this? I remember booklets with miniature bikes and circus accessories, like you were actually going to be able to train these things to do something other than become a bowl of stinky, murky water.

How it all began ....

In 1933, publishers at Eastern Color Press, intent to make better use of their printing equipment (which frequently sat idle between jobs), came up with the idea of printing an 8-page comic section that could be folded down from the large broadsheet to a smaller 9-inch by 12-inch format. The result was the first modern comic book. Containing reprints of newspaper comic strips, this experimental comic book titled "Funnies On Parade" was given away for free. It proved so popular that the following year Eastern published "Famous Funnies" and took the bold step of selling the comic for ten cents through chain stores. The enterprise was a smashing success and Eastern began churning out numerous reprints on a monthly basis. Other publishers, eager to get in on the profits, jumped on the bandwagon and the comic book industry was born!